Get out the map...

What a kickin' weekend!

We headed north to the Forks, ME for a couple of days on the river. With no reservations for camping or a plan for who the heck we were going to meet up with when we got there - but hoping we'd find someone. We pulled into "town" and immediately saw one of our good friends, followed by a couple more - they had a campsite and sure, we could pitch our tent there. Sweet!

We set up camp and then went to grab some dinner, drinks and play some horse shoes at a restaurant down the road a piece - where Kobe almost ended up acquiring a new brother. We were heading back to the truck at the end of the evening and this dog randomly started following Adam...He got to the truck, opened the door and the dog hopped in, curled into a little ball in the passenger's seat and made himself at home. He was a super cool looking dog - yellow lab-ish with one blue eye and one yellow one and Kobe-calm.

Adam to the dog: Uh, doggie, Amy needs to sit there, you're gonna have to hop down.

Dog: Looks at Adam, and hops into the back seat of the truck.

Adam to Amy: I think he's coming home with us.

Amy: But, don't you think he belongs to someone? [no collar, though]

Adam: Well, maybe he does, but maybe he doesn't like that person, cause he sure seems to want to come with us.

Amy: I'll go back in and see if he belongs to anyone.

Adam: OK, but if he doesn't, he's ours. He loves us, and I know Kobe would love him.

So, in I went, secretly hoping that, nope - nobody knows the dog. I headed directly to the bar where I asked the college age-ish bartender if she knew the dog..."Oh, yeah - he's mine." Damn.

Out I went to break the news to Adam, who was talking to to the dog and petting him, who now had a name - Marshall.

Adam: I just told him all about Kobe.

Amy: He's got an owner.

Adam: What? Who?

Amy: The bartender.

Adam: Her??? She shouldn't have a dog.

Amy: Maybe not, but we can't just take some one's dog.

So, we had to physically remove him from the truck...neither of us could do it, our buddy Miah had to. Marshall followed us out to the road as we pulled away.

The next day, Adam was set to kayak the Dead River at 5500 cfs (http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River_detail_id_787) with a great group of people. The river is a solid class IV at this level. I was going to hop in a raft of a friend of ours. However, she didn't make it to the river, so I was out of luck...But was I? I ended up meeting another girl who wasn't paddling either, so we decided to head out and spend the day on the deck at a local resort, sampling the local brews http://www.northernoutdoors.com/maine_brewpub_microbrewery.html. Not a bad afternoon after all.

We met up with the boys later on and had a great night by the campfire. We also found our friend with the raft and decided that we would raft the Kenne the next day (http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River_detail_id_438) - another Class IV. It was a great day - Adam rafted with me - instead of paddling his boat...So, it was four of us in the raft. If you ever have the chance to see this river, I highly recommend it. It's beautiful.

After running the Kenne, it was time to head home (BOO!). Once we got to the highway, the traffic was bumper-to-bumper and we decided to find a back way home...So, I got out the map and navigated us back home. It took a bit longer - but maybe not - cause at least we were moving and not sitting in traffic. Normally the trip is 4 hours and we think it took about 5.

A good little weekend.